


Let Sleeping Geniuses Lie

by celtic7irish



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2019 [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers team - Freeform, Fluff, Gen, Sleepy Tony, Soft Tony, everybody is friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 13:27:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20210500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celtic7irish/pseuds/celtic7irish
Summary: Far too many Avengers are awake at 3:00 in the morning, so they'll just have to keep each other company.





	Let Sleeping Geniuses Lie

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Tony Stark Bingo Square S1: Fluff

Tony yawned widely as he stumbled into the kitchen at three in the morning, bleary eyes focused on the coffee pot sitting on the counter, a fresh brew waiting for him, ignoring his surroundings.

Bruce frowned from his seat at the kitchen table. Tony was usually more aware than this, even after he’d been on a seventy-two hour engineering binge. The team usually got at least a nod of acknowledgment and a plaintive request for coffee. Bruce sent up a silent thanks to Jarvis for alerting him that Tony had finally emerged from the workshop, giving him time to prepare the coffee so that it was hot and fresh when Tony arrived.

Bruce waited as Tony managed to pour the coffee - mostly - into the large mug that Bruce had left sitting on the counter, and then waited a little bit more as Tony took the first sip of hot coffee, wincing as he pictured Tony scalding his tongue, but the moan Tony let out as the life-giving liquid slid down his throat was nearly sexual, and Bruce found himself smiling, just a little.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked, keeping his tone soft.

Tony blinked open the eyes that he’d closed, the coffee mug held close to his chest, and considered Bruce for a long moment. “When’d you get here?” he mumbled at last before ducking his face back into his mug.

Bruce chuckled, looking back at Tony with fondness. “I’ve been here for about an hour now,” he admitted ruefully. “I woke up and was hungry.” There had been a fight the previous day, and the Hulk had been needed. Bruce has slept for several hours and woken up ravenous, so he’d come downstairs to scrounge up some leftovers, and was now just relaxing, full and content, with a cup of tea at his elbow and one of Tony’s tablets in front of him. He would’ve probably moved to the couch to read for a bit before the others woke up - even Steve didn’t get up before five - but Jarvis had alerted him to Tony’s approach, so he had decided to hang out for a few extra minutes.

Slightly more awake now, Tony poured himself a second mug, then walked over to the kitchen table and settled in the chair next to Bruce, content to drink his coffee in silence. Tony was so full of life, constantly moving, always improving the Avengers’ gear or working on SI projects or the newest iteration of the Iron Man armor. He was only ever quiet during these early hours, when he’d either just woken up or hadn’t yet gone to bed, leaving him sleepy and content to sit in silence and nurse his coffee.

Bruce let the companionable silence settle over the two of them, not surprised when Tony’s head eventually dropped to the table, his crossed arms serving as pillows. He couldn’t let him stay like that for long, or Tony would wake up with a terrible crick in his neck and shoulders, but he could let him rest for a few minutes while he got the dishes cleaned up, at least.

“Jarvis?” he asked quietly.

_“Yes, Doctor Banner,”_ the AI replied just as softly, _“how may I be of assistance?”_

Bruce smiled. “Was Tony heading to bed before he stopped by the kitchen? Or was he just refueling?” Depending on what Tony was working on, Bruce would either let him crash for half an hour or so before waking him up and letting him get back to work, or he’d try and chivvy him off to bed for a few hours of sleep before he inevitably woke up again, grumbling about the wasted time and the impracticality of needing sleep.

_“Sir had completed the upgrades for the Mark Forty-Two,”_ Jarvis replied. Bruce supposed that qualified as an answer. If Tony was done, then he had probably been heading to bed, but he could have just as easily been planning to get coffee all along. Fortunately, it was Sunday, so unless an emergency came up, Tony shouldn’t have to deal with Stark Industries work for the day. And it had been a fairly quiet month for the Avengers.

Speaking of the Avengers, Bruce looked up at the soft sound of footsteps, offering Natasha a nod of acknowledgment as she wandered into the kitchen, dressed in an overly large t-shirt and a pair of sleep shorts, her hair a tangled mess. She was beautiful.

Natasha gave him a small, strained smile in return, green eyes turning to look at the man sleeping at the kitchen table. Her expression softened. “Engineering bender?” she asked quietly.

Bruce nodded. “Yeah, he was making upgrades to the armor,” he replied softly. “Jarvis said he had just finished up when he made his way here. I gave him coffee, but I don’t have the heart to wake him up,” he admitted ruefully. Natasha chuckled, making her way over to the counter and opening a jar that contained chocolate chip cookies. 

Taking a couple, she turned around and offered one to Bruce, who shook his head. Natasha shrugged. “More for me,” she said cheerfully, coming around the table, her hand tracing a path across Bruce’s shoulders and back. “We should probably get him to bed,” she murmured.

Bruce agreed. But before he could suggest that they’d do better to wake Tony up long enough to drag him to bed, they were interrupted by a new arrival. Bucky Barnes stumbled into the kitchen, not even trying to be quiet, his eyes wide and startled, shivering.

Before Bruce or Natasha could say anything, Bucky’s eyes zeroed in on Tony. As if he could feel the eyes staring at him, Tony startled awake, looking around wide-eyed. “Natasha, when’d you get here?” he mumbled, not bothering to cover up his yawn. Then he seemed to realize that he was the focus of a super soldier’s attention, because he turned his head to consider Bucky. “Bucky? You okay?” he asked.

Bucky started to nod, then shook his head. “Nightmares,” he muttered after only a brief hesitation. He was still a bit wary about revealing anything that could be considered a weakness, but nobody here would judge him for having bad dreams.

Tony smiled. “Yeah, welcome to the club,” he said, gesturing to the small group of Avengers gathered in the kitchen. “Well, not me, I haven’t actually gone to bed yet. But if I had, I would probably be awake by now anyhow.”

The reassurance, such as it was, seemed to calm Bucky down a little, and the Soldier moved over to the counter, fixing himself a cup of coffee before preparing another one and grabbing an apple from the basket Tony kept on the table. An apple wouldn’t really do much to help his metabolism, but Bruce suspected that Bucky was more interested in the tway it kept his hands busy than in the actual nutritional value. He set the second cup of coffee in front of Tony, who gleefully swapped it for his empty mug.

Tony yawned again. “Well, since we’re all awake now anyhow, anybody want to watch a movie?” he asked.

Natasha answered first. “You should try and get some sleep,” she suggested.

Tony gave her a tired smile. “Maybe,” he agreed, “but not in a bed.” Bruce frowned, wondering what that was about, but the answer came to him quickly enough. Pepper was out of town for a conference on the west coast, leaving the Penthouse empty. Tony didn’t sleep very well in their large shared bed when Pepper was gone.

“All right,” Natasha agreed. “The couch, then.” There was a chorus of murmured assent, and the four of them stumbled their way into the living room, settling on the large, overstuffed couches, a mound of pillows and blankets following. Bruce ended up on one side of the couch, his legs stretched out onto an ottoman, Tony curled up against his side, a warm line from hip to shoulder. Bucky was on the couch that sat perpendicular to the one that Tony and Bruce were on, Natasha sitting opposite from him, her legs tossed casually over Bucky’s thighs.

Bruce had no idea who had decided on the movie, but he had to admit that he approved when the opening scene for Sherlock came on. The characters were interesting enough to be engaging, and the plot was intriguing enough to be riveting. But if they fell asleep, there would be no regrets.

Bruce let his mind wander as the movie played, peripherally aware of Tony leaning more heavily against him as he dozed. Something inside him loosened at the blatant trust the other man was showing him. Tony, of all the Avengers he’d met so far, had been the only one that had never been so much as wary of Bruce or his much larger counterpart. And, perhaps more importantly, he had been the first one to see that Bruce was much more than just the Hulk. _Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster_.

“What are you thinking?” Natasha asked, her voice soft so as to not disturb the sleeping genius. Across from her, Bucky was watching the two of them with a small smile, something wistful in the twist of his lips.

Bruce shook his head, gazing fondly at the man that he considered to be his best friend and intellectual equal. “Tony is the best of us,” he murmured softly. He knew that a lot of people wouldn’t agree; the Merchant of Death stigma would probably never go away, but Tony did his best to make up for it, every damn day. And not just by being Iron Man, either. The work Stark Industries was doing would revolutionize entire industries, from hospitals to clean energy to military protective gear. And the Maria Stark Foundation helped support everything from veterans to students looking to further their education but lacking resources. 

“Can’t argue with that,” Bucky conceded. “After what I did, he shouldn’t have wanted anythin’ to do with me. And yet, here I am,” he said. Natasha kicked him lightly, and he captured her ankle with a grin, his thumb rubbing lightly over her ankle bone. Bruce wondered again at their relationship, but figured it wasn’t any of his business. Tony had said something once about a shared past, but he had looked haunted when he spoke of it, and Bruce hadn’t pushed for details. He hadn’t wanted to know.

“You say the sweetest things, Robocop,” Tony murmured, having woken up at some point in the conversation. He showed no inclination to move, though, so Bruce just settled more comfortably on the couch as Tony snuggled further into the blanket draped over him.

“I’m only tellin’ the truth,” Bucky said. “You didn’t have ta take me in, no matter what Stevie said.”

Tony snorted. “Trust me, I didn’t do it for Steve,” he said, but before he could finish that thought, they were interrupted.

“There you are,” Steve spoke up from behind them, wandering into the room. He was dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a tight t-shirt, his typical morning run outfit. Bruce glanced at his tablet, and saw that it was just past five-thirty. 

Tony tipped his head back as Steve came up behind them, smiling up at the blonde super soldier. “Hey, Cap,” he said.

Steve smiled back down at him. “Hey, Shellhead,” he answered, ruffling Tony’s hair. Then genius ducked with a muttered curse, and Steve’s grin widened. “Well, you kids have fun. Try and make it to a bed at some point, yeah?” he asked, concerned.

“Yeah, yeah,” Bucky answered with a put-upon sigh. “Go burn off some of that energy, punk,” he said, waving Steve off. Steve just chuckled, but left them alone after a last fond look at the four of them sprawled out in the living room.

“Ugh, too early,” Clint muttered, passing Steve in the doorway. He shuffled over to the couches, glancing at the gathered Avengers, then promptly dropped himself onto the couch where Tony and Bruce were cuddling, flopping dramatically onto his stomach with his face in Tony’s lap. Tony speared one of his hands through Clint’s hair, scratching along his scalp. The archer practically purred, relaxing into the gentle touches. He, like Tony, wasn’t particularly picky about where he got his affection from, and Tony was always more than willing to indulge in some friendly touching. Bruce was still working on it, and wasn’t really comfortable with having people in his personal space. Tony was a rather singular exception, and he often acted as a buffer between Bruce and other people.

The second Sherlock movie was playing, but nobody was really paying attention anymore, most of them semi-dozing. In a few hours, they’d scatter, each of them going about their own business. Tony would go tinker in the workshop. Bruce would check up on his experiments. Bucky would probably spend some time in the gym, and Clint in the archery range. Natasha would do...whatever it was that she did when she wasn’t working. Take down a minor drug cartel, perhaps.

Picking up the tablet that he’d set on the arm of the couch earlier, Bruce flipped through the news. Most of it didn’t interest him - Jarvis would tell them of anything that required the attention of the Avengers, and most news was just depressing - but he enjoyed reading the little fluff pieces. This morning, there was an article regarding a local pet shelter that Steve had visited the day before. Bruce had no doubt that the shelter would soon receive an influx of both donations and pet applications. After all, who wouldn’t want to adopt a puppy that had gotten to kiss Captain America, or a kitten that had curled up in his arms?

“Anything interesting?” Tony asked, and Bruce looked down in surprise to see the other man smiling at him, eyes bright and alert. Apparently he’d decided to forgo napping for the time being.

Bruce shrugged. “Nothing of particular note,” he replied. “Although I do believe Doctor Foster has a new scientific paper coming out today.” Her research on Einstein-Rosen Bridges, or wormholes, was unparalleled. Between Asgard’s Bi-Frost and the Chitauri portal, plus whatever had gone down in London some years past, Jane Foster had more personal experience with Einstein-Rosen Bridges than perhaps any other living human. It made for fascinating reading, even with SHIELD’s restrictions on what she could actually publish.

“Oooh!” Tony said, his eyes lighting up. “Jarvis, did we send her something? Please tell me we sent her, like, a congratulatory bouquet or something, I don’t know. What do we normall send?”

_“Miss Potts sent along a bouquet and an invitation for Doctor Foster to present at the Annual Stark Convention next year,”_ Jarvis replied, and Bruce smiled.

“It’s really good that you brought that back,” he murmured, stroking one hand up and down Tony’s arm. “A lot of people get so much out of it.”

Tony shrugged, ducking his head, but he looked pleased. “Yeah, well, you know me. Always looking for the best. And this way, I don’t have to hunt them down - or make Pepper hunt them down. They come to me. And, you know, it’s a good opportunity for them to network.”

“Uh huh, sure, that’s all it is,” Bruce teased, ruffling Tony’s hair. Tony swatted at his hand half-heartedly, then snuggled down more determinedly.

“We were watching a movie,” he pointed out, ignoring the fact that nobody was actually watching anything anymore.

Bruce smiled. “Yes, I suppose we were,” he agreed mildly.

With a pleased sound, Tony turned his attention back to the television, content to stay right where he was for just a bit longer.

Bruce went back to his reading, content to enjoy the early morning hours for just a little while longer.


End file.
